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Homecoming
Patrick Marleau returns to SJ
The Sharks favorite son came home on Monday night.
Albeit for a short visit, but Patrick Marleau made his return to San Jose and
the SAP Center as his Toronto Maple Leafs made their only stop in San Jose.
After 19 seasons in teal, the prodigal son hot the ice in a foreign blue and
white sweater that didn't seem to quite fit correctly. It wasnt's a storybook
ending for Marleau, whose team dropped a 3-2 decision to San Jose, but it was
an opportunity for fans and city to extend their appreciation to the longest
tenured Shark in team history.
"It was extremely special to receive an
ovation like that," Marleau said after the game. "Seeing all the signs around
the rink. They showed me great support during my time here. It was special."
Marleau didn't get on the scoresheet, which was fine for the Sharks,
who are looking to establish some consistency in their game. San Jose ended up
winning the game, which was their second consecutive victory. Consecutive wins
have been hard to come by for the Sharks early in the season, and the emotions
and energy of Marleau's homecoming could have easily upended that.
Instead, San Jose turned in one of their best defensive performances of the
season. The Sharks held the Maple Leafs to 18 shots in the game, but Toronto
went a span of 16 minutes without recording a shot on goal.
All those
emotions came to a head before the opening puck drop even happened. The Sharks
honored Marleau with a video tribute before the game, highlighting some of his
career highlights. The Sharks faithful gave Marleau a standing ovation for a
good 2 minutes. The former Sharks captain stood by himself on the ice with a
spotlight shining down on him, with his stick in the air to acknowledge the
sellout crowd.
Toronto grabbed the lead 12:14 into the 1st period when
Leafs phenom Auston Matthews grabbed a deflection in the slot and beat Martin
Jones. Mathews was being blanketed by Logan Couture, but the forward shed the
Shark before collecting a Nikita Zaitsev shot as he skated from right to left
in front of the crease.
Joe Pavelski knotted the game at 1-1 7:58 into
the 2nd period. Rookie defenseman Tim Heed ripped a shot from the right point
that Pavelski redirected as he hovered in the low slot. The Sharks captain was
back skating from right to left, getting his stick blade on the puck to direct
it just inside the right post. Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen tried
to cut off the angle, but it found a narrow seem.
San Jose held the
Maple Leafs to 2 shots in the 2nd period, suppressing the Toronto offense with
a blanketing defense. It would take them 13 minutes and change to record their
first shot in the 3rd period.
Dominic Moore gave the Sharks their third power play
of the evening with a retaliatory cross check to Timo Meier. That setup power
play pay dirt for the Sharks. Rookie defenseman Tim Heed rifled a shot from the
right point that caught the top left corner of the net. Andersen barely
flinched as the puck zipped over his right shoulder for the go-ahead goal.
With the Maple Leafs on cruise control for most of the period, San
Jose was content to kill clock. That worked in the Sharks favor as they were
able to keep the puck away from their own goal. Toronto finally kicked it into
gear with 5 minutes to play.
Toronto was forced to pull Andersen with
2 minutes left in the game, which led to a goal that seemed to ice the game.
Joel Ward recorded his 1st tally of the season on a shot from the front of the
Maple Leafs penalty box into the unattended net.
Both teams should
have just run down the remaining 2:13, but Toronto failed to oblige. Nazem
Kadri converted with 70 seconds left in regulation by tipping an Andreas
Borgman shot from the left point. Kadri cut across the front of the Sharks net
as Pavelski had done on his goal earlier in the game, creating traffic in front
of Jones.
Marleau's homecoming would come to a happy ending for the
home crowd as the former Shark and his new team failed to bag the equalizer.
Game Notes:
* The Maple Leafs entered the game as the
highest scoring team in the league, but the Sharks muzzled them with their best
defensive showing of the season.
* Marleau was the only member of his
family in attendance. His wife Christina was flanked by their four sons, who
all flew back to California from Ontario to be in San Jose for the return. The
entire family relocated to Toronto after Marleau signed his three year contract
last summer.
* Marleau's line on the night: 25 shifts, 14:16 of ice
time, 2 shots, 1 hit, 1 takeaway, 1-for-4 in the faceoff circle, and a -2
plus/minus. Not one of Marleau's better lines, but given all the pressure of
his return it was understandable.
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What did you
think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| TOR |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| SJ |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
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| 1st period - 1, TOR,
Matthews 9 (Zaitsev, Nylander), 12:14. |
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| 2nd period - 2, Pavelski
3 (Heed, Thornton), 7:58. |
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| 3rd period - 3, SJ, Heed
2 (Burns, Couture), 4:11, (pp). 4, SJ, Ward 1 (Tierney), 17:47, (en). 5, TOR,
Kadri 7 (Borgman, Reilly), 18:50. |
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| 1st period - Martin, TOR
(tripping), 16:24. |
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| 2nd period - Zaitsev,
TOR (slashing), 17:29. |
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| 3rd period - Moore, TOR
(cross checking), 2:57; Brown, TOR (interference), 8:05. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| TOR - Andersen |
38 |
36 |
| TOR - empty net |
1 |
0 |
| SJ - Jones |
18 |
16 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| TOR |
9 |
2 |
7 |
18 |
| SJ |
14 |
11 |
14 |
39 |
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| Referees:
O'Halloran, St Pierre. Linesmen: Heyer, Rody. |
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